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Coming off of the strong Heatwave 98' show, I was hoping November to Remember 98' would be another loaded card. Before the show starts, a video is shown of Jack Victory getting jumped by New Jack. This was very similar to what happened at Heatwave, but this time New Jack was hauled off by cops.
Back in the ring, Joey Styles runs down the card before getting interrupted by the returning Terry Funk. Funk comes in and basically cuts a heel promo on Styles and then Tommy Dreamer, angry that his former mentee didn't bother to call him up as back-up in his upcoming match against the Dudleys. A point awarded for Terry Funk being Terry Funk. (+1)
Speaking of Terry Funk, his cameo in the next match is another example of how just his presence can make something more exciting and entertaining. The match itself - Blue Meanie and Nova vs. Danny Doring and Roadkill - is nothing special...but Funk showing up in the early moments adds an extra air of danger at ringside and makes the "meat" of the match more interesting until they get to the final few minutes, which are actually quite good. Nova was known for his innovative offense and we do get to see a little bit of it. Blue Meanie had improved considerably from his previous appearance on an ECW pay-per-view to my eyes, but he was so green originally that its not like he's all of a sudden Dean Malenko out there. Doring and Roadkill are generic heels and I'm not surprised they didn't go on to do much when they eventually did make it to WWE. Terry Funk eventually puts himself through a table on the outside, which is ridiculous and makes no sense, but hey, he's Terry Funk, so it still somehow works. (2.5/5)
Next up - the FBI's Tracy Smothers took on Tommy Rogers. This was a weird match because the FBI were over and were a terrific gimmick, but Tommy Rogers felt really out of place in ECW and even his attempt to win over the crowd before the match was met with indifference. I'm guessing Paul E. thought Rogers would be welcomed as a bit of a hometown guy as this match was in Louisiana (a state familiar with Rogers from his days in the Mid-South territory), but he not treated like a big deal at all. Smothers is great - as usual - but this match could've used even more shtick from Little Guido and Tommy Rich as their comedy work was really what the fans wanted from there (despite Smothers and Guido still being able to "go" in the ring). This match goes 8 minutes but feels longer and was not at all "ECW" match, which means the crowd was not into it and didn't get behind Rogers. I liked Tommy's finisher, though, which Christian nicked. (1.5/5)
Afterwards, we get run-ins from the returning Chris Chetti and then Mabel (Viscera/Big Daddy V) runs out in an FBI shirt. This leads to an impromptu match against Spike Dudley because...ECW did shit like this. Its impossible to rate this 5-second segment as a real match so I won't.
Lance Storm vs. Jerry Lynn follows, but 90% of the attention of this match goes to Tammy Lynn Sytch (Sunny), who is serving as one of two guest referees (the other being Mikey Whipwreck). Storm and Lynn are outstanding wrestlers and they deliver a clinic, but this match really feels like someone trying to force-feed a child their vegetables while dangling a candy bar over their nose. The fans are respectful - to a point - but it is very clear that whatever Sunny is doing, that's where their eyes are going (probably because she's wearing a mini-skirt, a thong, and half a ref shirt). The intro to this match goes way too long and the amount of fuckery in the finish is almost unnecessary (and boy does Sunny nearly end up crippled when she attempts to take Whipwreck's signature neckbreaker). Neither Storm nor Lynn were known for their charisma (in fact, I'd argue that Storm was actually better served in WCW when they made being boring part of his gimmick), but because of how distracting Sunny's presence is, this match can't really get over on its own merit either. (2/5)
The ECW World Tag Team Championships were on the line next as The Dudleys took on the team of Masato Tanaka and Balls Mahoney. After the usual lengthy Dudleys intro, the babyfaces came out (with Axl Rotten leading the way) and they declare that the match is now going to be a Bourbon Street Brawl. Did anyone expect this to be just a traditional tag? They start with a little bit of actual wrestling, but they know what the fans want and we soon get some big splashes to the outside and chairshots galore. Sign Guy, Big Dick, and Joel Gertner all get involved, but the babyfaces won't stay down (despite Joey Styles repeatedly noting that they both suffered serious head traumas not too long before this due to chairshots). The crowd is VERY into this and pop big for every big chairshot and some of them are absolutely brutal. With Jeff Jones as the ref, you knew you were going to get shenanigans but because the action was so good, his treachery still comes "out of nowhere" and gets a great response. I really liked the Dudleys kicking out of Tanaka and Mahoney's finishes and Tanaka kicking out the 3D - it really put both teams over as super tough. Unfortunately, the actual finish, while it delivered a "feel good" moment, seemed like it was tacked on when they couldn't figure out a clean way to finish it and almost overshadows how good the rest of this was. I get that they were building for a RVD/Sabu vs. Dudleys re-match, but either Balls and Tanaka were worth putting the straps on cleanly or they weren't worth giving the titles to at all. This was a really fun, violent brawl. (3.5/5)
After a promo from Shane Douglas and the Triple Threat, Justin Credible and Jack Victory made their way down the aisle for their match against Tommy Dreamer and his mystery partner...Jake Roberts. Uh oh. Jake didn't even bother getting dressed in his wrestling gear so you can kinda tell he's not going to be doing much. He looks a bit thinner than he had during his last WWE run in 95'-96', but that's about the most positive thing one might say about him. This match is a total mess and not in a good way. If the previous match was a good example of a "kitchen sink brawl" still telling at least some semblance of a story and delivering cool moments, this match is the opposite of that. The best moment is Jake Roberts hitting a DDT on Nicole Bass, but there's nothing else particularly memorable or clever or interesting in this match despite it featuring run-ins from One Man Gang, Rod Price, New Jack (who had someone escaped police custody?), and Kronus. Nobody in this match looks good, but one can't deny that Tommy Dreamer was over and that the ECW faithful were into it. (1/5)
After the match, Terry Funk shows up and eventually attacks his former protege, Tommy Dreamer. This is followed by a series of promos to hype up tonight's main event - Shane Douglas, Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Candido vs. Sabu, Rob Van Dam, and Taz. This is a continuation of the Taz/Douglas feud, but there was also some on-screen heat between Taz and Bigelow and Bigelow and Rob Van Dam (as well as Sabu and Taz), which really added to the intensity of the match. I wasn't expecting much out of this, especially after seeing multiple messy brawls on the same show, but this exceeded my expectations largely because of the personalities involved (and the fact that they worked this less as a "kitchen sink" brawl and like an actual six-man tag match). Sabu comes out in a neck brace, so he essentially plays the face-in-peril after hitting some of his signature offense. Rob Van Dam and Bigelow get some time in (and out) of the ring together but the big "must see" pairing was Taz and Douglas and they do a nice job of building to that moment. This, of course, leads to an interesting finish where Taz applies the Tazmission onto Douglas and looks like he's got the win only for Sabu to come flying off the top to take out both men and steal the W. Despite getting the team victory, Taz is obviously pissed that he was prevented from tapping out the champ and the babyfaces argue in the ring until the show comes to a close. As I wrote above, this match exceeded my expectations but wouldn't be on a shortlist of great ECW matches. (2.5/5)
With a Kwang Score of 2.16-out-of-5, this show is not going to wow with you with its wrestling quality or star power. However, there are some fun moments to enjoy if you're an ECW fan - the Dudleys/Tanaka & Balls match is wonderfully violent, the main event does a nice job of furthering the Taz/Douglas feud while also allowing Sabu to stick his nose into that storyline. Jake Roberts' involvement is disappointing and underwhelming, though I enjoyed Terry Funk's multiple appearances on the show. Still, with only one match worth your time - and still only really for fans of the genre - this show is a...
FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver
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